


In Which Chrono Needs Sleep but the Universe Says NO

by Chronacle



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: CBD is CBD, Chaos, Chrono is dramatic when sick, Kidnapping, Kidnapping a sick person, Relics crew low-key going through it, SecretSanta2020, Valeos is creepy, do not recommend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chronacle/pseuds/Chronacle
Summary: GZ Episode 11-12, but Chrono caught a cold and therefore is stuck in bed. More chaos than what you would expect ensues, yet at the same time is to be expected.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16
Collections: cfvg playground Secret Santa 2020





	In Which Chrono Needs Sleep but the Universe Says NO

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eclarius](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eclarius/gifts).



> Merry Christmas Claire! May next year bring more positive chaos into your life!

So, it turns out being stuck in an interdimensional space prison under threat of losing your bond with your Avatar and being turned into the vessel for the God of Destruction™ itself for about a week with no food or water even though you oddly enough didn’t get hungry or thirsty or sleepy for that matter while there takes an additional week for the affects to really hit. Maybe it was because time was wonky in there or it was Cray magiks at work, who knows. But for some reason he was the _only one bedridden as a result_. He checked- Tsuneto, Hashima-san, Taiyou, Kazuma, they were perfectly fine and dandy. It was unfair.

Okay maybe not fine and dandy, they were all either suffering from exhaustion, dry throats, constantly snacking, or a combination of them, but it was better than the full-blown fever he was saddled with. Taiyou thinks it was because he had the most marks lit up on his hand, which would explain it if Tsuneto wasn’t also suffering from narcolepsy like Kazuma was. Still, it was better than nothing. Maybe he caught a bug in between now and their escape and his exhaustion let way to him getting sick.

If he were to be honest, he was more upset about the fact he’d miss out on the Christmas/welcome back party they had planned for Arata and Makoto than he was getting sick. ~~And for being a burden when they were still at war with the Apostles,~~ but Tokoha and Shion have developed some sort of sixth sense for whenever he’s putting himself down (and to be honest they all have for each other) and will raid his aunt’s apartment to put a stop to that, so he kept that part to himself.

He’s pretty sure they heard the subtext anyway.

And that’s how he found himself in bed, under multiple blankets and pillows with Mikuru fussing over him, which made the guilt a lot worse because Christmas Eve and Day were among her rare days off work and she was spending it taking care of him. Course, there was also the fact that he was missing for a week which was just as hard on her as much as it was him, probably even more so. She had given him a through scolding after that, but that was fine, it was her way of showing she cared.

…

The fever must be getting to him, he hasn’t been this critical (ha) of himself since before, well, Vanguard.

Anyway, it was now Christmas Day and Chrono had not gotten any better than he was two days ago. The others promised to video call him so he could at least welcome New Nippon back home before his meds knocked him out for the rest of the evening. Although, Mamoru did hint at Ibuki having something special for everyone tonight, so he was tempted to hold off on them just to see what’s up. But with Mikuru watching over him like a hawk (he loves her, truly, but _Mikuru-san_ _please its Christmas go have fun I can take care of myself for one night-)_ he’d probably have to settle for whatever stories and, he hopes, recordings of whatever it is.

**_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_ **

It was now an hour into the predicted time of the party to start and Mikuru was out of the apartment (She thought that even if Chrono was bedridden, that didn’t mean they still couldn’t enjoy the evening, so she went to buy the ingredients for some classic noodles with warm broth that she knew for a fact was more Chrono’s area of expertise between the two of them but bless her for trying to make the experience more bearable for him, especially since his then headache evolved into a mild migraine. His aunt is the best). As promised, Tokoha had called him on her phone, so he was able to greet Arata and Makoto when they arrived back. Kazuma ended up late due to the aforementioned narcolepsy- Tsuneto just slept over at Capital until the party- and Taiyou and Hashima-san were fine so long as they kept a glass of water/snack nearby, so he was the only one of the Relics group unable to come.

He definitely wasn’t pouting shut up, Kazuma.

So here he was, blanket over his head trying to hide away from the world and non-existent bright lights of his apartment (has he mentioned how much he loved his aunt for turning them off on her way out?) while moving as little as possible as to not agitate the migraine. Being sick sucked, _why_ would anyone wish for a sick day? At least his meds were finally kicking in. Soon he’ll drift off into sweet oblivion where no light nor noise can reach to disturb him from a peaceful slumber where sickness with a myth and he can cardfight with his friends all he wanted with neither world at stake and maybe for once have a conversation with Dran without said worlds at stake was that too much to ask?

Wow, he really does get dramatic when he’s ill.

As he nodded off, he distantly heard the apartment door open, along with more than one voice. Did Mikuru bring the others with her? The party was supposed to go on for a while longer, and he told them not to worry and just have fun (but damn if he doesn’t want to join in). There was a loud thud that had him nearly bolting up out of instinct, but his medication was pretty strong, so the most he did was shift his head, which brought the migraine back. Damn it.

The door to his room opened and he had to fight a whimper as light poured in. As great as his aunt is, if she let Tsuneto into his room he’s boycotting making her octopus dumplings for a month. Two weeks. One at _least_. He didn’t have the energy to kick the loudmouth Oracle Think Tank user out, so he opted to bury himself even deeper into the covers. Was it possible to become one with them? Chrono didn’t know but he was about to find out.

There was more muttering, and someone was tugging at his covers. A cool hand touched his forehead and he easily leaned into it. And then it was gone and that was just rude. But soon enough it returned firmer, and he drifted off to sleep.

**_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_ **

Half an hour later, Mikuru returned back to the apartment, only to find no sign of her nephew anywhere.

A note on the counter read, _” We’ve taken the Singularity. Merry Christmas~!_

_“P.S. Ask Toshiki: how do onions sound for your present this year? :D – CBD”_

Kai, of course, cursed up a storm when he heard this. Nobody believed the eyewitnesses.

**_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_ **

_“How?”_

“Damn it! We should’ve known!”

“Isn’t he still sick?”

“When did they-?!”

“Chrono-san is-”

“We need to go after them!”

“STOP!” Shouted Tokoha, effectively silencing everyone in the store. Cards and fight stands were left scattered and abandoned in the wake of Mikuru’s frantic call. Shin had left to go and calm her down, leaving the junior cardfighters to figure out what to do about the situation. Tokoha had texted her brother and Shion was outside in the process of calling Iwakura and informing Kaumi and the others about the situation. “Standing around isn’t going to help us find Chrono. Shion’s calling Iwakura-san, so some of us will go with him while the others search on foot.”

“Anjou-san is right.” Nodded Enishi. “With any luck they should still be within the city.”

“The wonders of traffic!” Chirped Kumi. “And on Christmas too!”

“They are definitely going to still be within the city.” Shion returned, Iwakura with him. “Even though all the men I had stake out the apartment were knocked out,” Kazuma had so many questions. “They can say that they’ve been gone for at least half an hour. And many of the roads out and within the city got hit pretty heavy with snow. Ibuki and I have already organized a team of people to search from the outside in. Every main road leading into the city will have a group of men waiting while several other teams will search every road, side road, and alleyway along the way in. We just have to worry about the inside.”

Shion was gone for ten minutes.

“Well, its obvious Kazuma, Taiyou and I are coming with you.” Tokoha was completely unfazed by Shion and Ibuki’s efficiency and Kazuma wondered just how often things like this happen to have that effect. ~~(Even Trinity Dragon was unfazed and that honestly scared him.)~~ “Everyone else, go with your team members, easy grouping.”

“Hopefully, they haven’t gotten far...”

**_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_ **

The Apostles had, in fact, not gotten very far.

To rewind a few hours, their initial plan this holiday was to murder Messiah’s Vanguard. It would be simple: challenge the man to a cardfight, slowly cause him pure agony, make a big speech about him failing to protect Gear Chronicle’s Singularity and fate, give him a heart attack, and leave his corpse in the void, simple. In various other timelines, this was the plan they execute with varying degrees of success. But there was one thing this timeline had that the other, if any, didn’t have- Shindou Chrono falling ill.

Now, as all powerful their god was, for all they knew his diffriding of the boy would not rid the sickness and it wouldn’t do for Gyze to be trapped in a sick body. So, until he has fully recovered, killing Kouji Ibuki would have to be put off, much to Darkface’s ire.

But that didn’t mean they could _not_ do something in the meantime. Afterall, if the Singularity was already in their possession by the time of their master’s arrival, it would save them the very real hassle of retrieving the vessel from some very stubborn people. Even the Kiba heir’s _butler_ was too stubborn to die in the rockslide Valeos had brought upon the two. And so, once the aunt was gone and the Singularity was alone, they made their move.

Unfortunately, they underestimated just how ill Shindou Chrono was. By the time they realized ‘oh, this was actually a bad idea wasn’t it’ and that they were essentially stuck within the city, their priority switched from ‘escape with the vulnerable Singularity’ to ‘oh god don’t let the vulnerable Singularity die’. With varying degrees of success. Chaos Breaker was of no help whatsoever.

And that’s how they found themselves outside a raman shop not too far from the apartment they just left, with Alicides ordering a warm broth and Gastille picking up some antibiotics from the store over. Valeos was busy tending to the Singularity with that strange fascination Chaos Breaker thought was only reserved for Gyze and, were he awake, would disturb Shindou Chrono _greatly_. Apparently, after discovering that the cold helped, Valeos has been occasionally digging his hands through the snow to cool them enough to press against the redhead’s brow and it was such a hilarious sight Chaos Breaker decided not to tell him that he could just as easily wrap some snow up in a cloth and use that.

(Somewhere deep down Noa pointed how the excess water would make the fever worse. He shrugged it off, but it really wouldn’t do if the Singularity died because of a common cold ~~‘Fever!’ Noa chirped~~ , so he filed the information away for later, just in case.)

Valeos suddenly looked up at Chaos Breaker. “Would it be preemptive to prepare suitable clothing for Gyze-sama? The currently clothing of the Singularity is extremely lacking for one chosen to house our master.”

…

In lieu of answering, Chaos Breaker idly wondered what was taking the others so long.

**_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_ **

Kazuma tapped his foot against the floor of the limousine impatiently. It’s been nearly another half hour since Chrono was taken (seriously, this was, what, the _third time_ since he’s met him? He thought Taiyou was joking about the kidnapper pheromones) and there was still no sign of him or the Apostles. Really, who even kidnaps a sick person, that’s even more of a hassle than taking a perfectly healthy one. Taiyou wasn’t doing any better, nervously sipping the water bottle Shion provided after his dry throat reared its head (Kazuma felt somewhat guilty he got off with just spontaneous naps, but then he sees how much water Taiyou consumed the first day alone and was grateful he got what he had).

“… You think Chrono’s okay?” Taiyou eventually asked. “He didn’t sound too well on the phone earlier.”

“Or look it either.” Nodded Kazuma. “Leave it to him to get the short straw on top of the kidnapping. Seriously, I thought you were joking about that.”

“Oh no!” Laughed Tokoha. “It’s a hundred percent true. It’s happened, what, four times?”

“Five times, technically.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” Shion held up a finger. “Three times happened this year, counting now. First time he went willingly-”

“What.” Kazuma deadpanned. ~~Why was he able to believe that?~~

“And the second time he was actually kidnapped after being tased.”

_“Wha-”_

“CHRONO WAS TASED!?” Tokoha and Shion winced.

“Oh… uh, he didn’t tell you?”

“Well to be fair Chrono hardly ever shares these sorts of things.”

“Seriously, _what_ -?”

“Shion-sama!” Everyone suddenly turned to Iwakura, who was staring at something next to the car. They turned and immediately gained matching expressions of disbelief.

In the car next to them, through the window, they were greeted to the sight of the following:

In the driver’s seat was Alicides who apparently was praying (to who and for what was anyone’s guess. Money was on the table for Gredora for the who). Chaos Breaker was leaning over the front passenger seat, practically standing on the cushion, smirking as he seemed to goad on Gastille who looked very small in their multiple layers of coats and more like a ruffled kitten than the leader of a cult. Valeos was staring very unnervingly at the final member of the strange sight, adjusting the thick coat of blankets wrapped around the figure as they _very_ uncomfortably drank some sort of warm liquid from a paper cup…

Wait.

Kazuma threw open the limousine door. “Shindou!?”

The occupants of the other car immediately snapped over to them. Gastille appeared to curse while Chaos Breaker smirked and Alicides panicked over the car controls. Chrono grinned at them, his muffled voice shouting back to them. As for Valeos…

Before anyone could react, Chrono was suddenly wrapped up like a burrito in blankets (his cup fell on top of a startled Gastille) as Valeos grabbed him into his arms and ran out of the car. Chaos Breaker looked back and forth between where the two of them were and where they went before shrugging and going after them.

“Wha- GET BACK!” And now the rest of TRYders was running after them, Shion telling Iwakura to let the others know.

And thus, began the most ridiculous game of tag/hide-and-seek ever to be witnessed _ever._

One downside to downtown was that there were _a lot_ of back and side alleys for anyone to slip and disappear through. Thankfully, most of the others were in the area anyway, so they were able to cover a lot of ground. (Except Team New Nippon. The sight of Chaos Breaker leading a distraction had them chasing after their teammate, which was completely understandable, any of them would have done the same.) But that didn’t mean the situation was frankly ridiculous. For instance, despite being in entirely different areas, all of Jaime Flowers were the unfortunate victims of piles of snow falling on top of them. In a fit of unusual frustration Taiyou had thrown a snowball and _somehow hit Valeos right on the head?_ Not to mention how Trinity Dragon, while having set if for Valeos, managed to catch Chaos Breaker in a large crate they found? He still escaped, but it happened! (But not before New Nippon tried to hug him out of Noa’s body. Karl made sure to take pictures.) Ibuki managed to find his way to them along the way and Kamui seemed to materialize out of thin air the moment Chrono was found. Rin and Henri were the victims of a snow drift even bigger than the ones that fell upon Jaime Flowers and were forced to retreat of they wanted to keep their limbs. They put up such a valiant fight...

Eventually, the game came to an end on the opposite side of the city they started from. They managed to corner the Units at the docks and, unless they had a boat hidden away (there wasn’t Ibuki’s men checked), there was no escape.

“Okay!” Jaime threateningly grinned. “Give us back our amigo!”

“Or we’ll fight you, and then take back Shindou-kun!” Kumi was equally as threatening.

“Resistance is futile.” Frowned Enishi. With Tokoha, they really were peas in a pod. Still though, the sentiment was shared among those gathered. Not one of them wasn’t glaring at the two Diffriders, the taller of which who _still_ was holding the blanket burrito that was Chrono. Who wasn’t moving?

Wait, was he asleep!?

Soft snores were drifting over from the blankets in the silence. Yep, he was out.

“Alright then.” Kazuma pulled out his deck, the others not far behind. “Well, who’s up fir-“

“Take him.”

“… excuse me?” Ibuki stared. Shion stared. Chaos Breaker stared. Everyone stared at Valeos, who was holding Chrono’s sleeping form towards them.

“Take him.” He simply repeated. “As painful as it is to admit, we were severely underprepared to care for Gyze-sama’s vessel-” Kazuma’s grip on his deck tightened. “So, to ensure Shindou Chrono does not meet an untimely demise, you may take him back.”

Everyone present just stood there in pure disbelief as they processed his words. Was this a trick, surely it was? But Valeos has been shown to be very blunt in his intentions, so in that case…

“Wait.” Blinked Tsuneto. “You mean we went through _all that_ just so you can turn around and give Chrono back!?” And everyone was back to glaring, a touch more murderous than before, Jaime Flowers in particular.

“Yes.” Nodded Valeos. “Is there a problem?”

“IS THERE-” Shouted Kamui. “You know what? No. One of you is gonna get the beating of a lifetime get over here right now and take out your decks.”

“I agree.” Smiled Shion and wow wasn’t that extremely terrifying. “I do believe we deserve some, ah, recompense for the trouble you put us through.”

“Ohh, I like the sound of that!” Tokoha smirked.

“You owe us a fight!” Yelled Arata.

“Give us back Noa!” Added Makoto.

“Prepare to be destroyed~!” Smiled Kumi.

“We’ll take Chrono back, right after beating you two into the dust.” Kazuma stepped forward.

Chrono, meanwhile, slept quite peacefully.

**_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_ **

Enemy or no, whatever medication Gastille had gotten for him worked _so much_ better than the ones he was using before. He even got to keep the bottle, so that was a plus. And as ironic as it was, the chase through the city actually helped him fall asleep, but after days of a pounding head, sore muscles and dry throats, Chrono wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth and welcomed the much-needed rest.

He could have gone without that extremely awkward and frankly uncomfortable period where _Valeos_ of all people _fussed over him_. Seriously, he though his medication was doing something, but no, it was real.

Anyway, when he next awoke, he had a much clearer head and found himself back in his room, still in his blanket burrito. Sitting up was still a chore, but overall, he was doing much better. His head still hurt, but the lights in his room were out so he adjusted fine. From beyond his bedroom door, he could hear idle chatter going on, as well as the clinking of kitchen utensils. Now that he wasn’t up on pain meds, he was able to tell the voices actually belong to his friends and aunt, so he relaxed. It was probably a bad idea, but Chrono swung his legs off his bed and made an attempt to stand. Of course, the door opened just before he could try.

“See?” Huffed Kazuma. “I told you he’d try this.”

“We all knew!” Cheered Taiyou.

“Wow, my own teammates.” Chrono snarked back with no heat before going into a coughing fit. So much for feeling better, his headache was coming back.

“Take it easy, will you?” Kazuma tried to lie him back down. “Do you know how much of a hassle you put us through? Seriously? _Kidnapped?”_

“It’s not like I asked to be- _cough-”_ Taiyou passed him a warm glass of water.

“You really did worry us Chrono!” He chided. “We had to go across the whole city to find you. And it was snowing too!”

“Heh… sorry…” They fell into a silence.

“… If I catch a cold, I’m blaming you.” Kazuma finally said. “In fact, we all are.”

Chrono huffed out a laugh. “Seriously? It’s not my fault none of you dressed for the weather!”

“Yeah, ‘cause we all thought we’d be warm and cozy at Capital for the whole night, not chasing aliens!”

“We did get revenge in the end though!”

“Revenge?”

“We’ll tell you later. Drink this and go back to sleep.”

Chrono, of course resisted their attempts to get him back into bed and managed to get them to take him out to see the others for just a few minutes (there was much fond scolding from his friends and hugs from Mikuru). A few minutes ended up turning into an hour, then more, and Chrono was back to nursing a migraine the next morning as a result.

Completely worth it to witness Ibuki walk in dressed as Santa the second hour in.


End file.
